Popular Culture I
Öğr. Gör. Gülbin Kıranoğlu
The Capitalist and Patriarchal Elements in the Products of Popular Culture
Betül Kılıç
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The Capitalist and Patriarchal Elements in the Products of Popular Culture The humans are gregarious living beings. So, throughout history, they have lived as communities because they need communities. And also, they are in communication and interaction with each other. Every society makes its own culture based on their language, religion, science, conventions, eating, wearing customs and social life. The culture also takes shape and undergoes change in time. This development can be in a short or long period. When the effects on cultures are taken into consideration, classifications
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These elements can be seen in the movies which class distinctions are shown and the characters give importance on only money, material world in terms of life styles. As the famous director Michael Moore criticizes capitalism in his documental movie whose name is Capitalism: A Love Story, capitalism is the huge difference between the life of people have everyting in one side and the life of people have nothing in other side. Thus, there are many elements in movies that it can be noticed thanks to the point of view of popular culture. In this respect, the producers of these movies sell people an imaginary life which they can never have in fact. The Wolf of Wall Street directed and produced by Martin Scorsese is certainly one of these movies. It is based on the life of a stockbroker whose name is Jordan Belfort in New York. Even at the beginning, the character says that "money makes you invincible" not only in his words but also in his life always the importance of money is emphasised. While Jordan Belfort is a naive stockbroker at first, suddenly he starts to become rich day by day. So, the movie dreams up myths that everyone can be rich if they work enough as İrfan Erdoğan says just like the words of Jordan Belfort. He also says "If you use your mind and elequence, you can have the opportunities I have". On the other hand, his arguement is very capitalist because in fact he says that "if …show more content…
As Bell Hooks discriminates, "patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females... through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence". Therefore, it is insulting for women to be shown the patriarchal concerns in media devices. On the other hand, just like other unfavorable sides of popular culture, these acts also become effective on society. For example, in the film The Wolf of Wall Street, the woman figure is in the background. Most of the characters are male at first. To exemplify specifically, the main character, Jordan Belfort makes a speech at the opening scene of the movie, and he tells about what you can buy with money, he orders many things a luxurious car, a good life style, and also a better "girlfriend". Thus, he commoditises the woman. Furthermore, the character whose name is Donnie says that he gets married to her cousin because she became a very sexy woman when she grew up. So this means that the most important side of a woman is her body not her thoughts, ideas and esteem. At this stage, Prof. Talip Küçükcan mentions the feminist film theory. According to this theory, in the products of popular culture, women are shown as only sex objects so they object to pornography. However, in The Wolf of Wall Street, there are many scenes which insult and humiliate the woman figure.
Each of these concepts are utilized at the advantage of men, and the disadvantage of women, and has shown to provide detrimental consequences and results for women in society. However, in this film, and other films by Tyler Perry, appear to take the added step to combat these aspects that are present in the media’s portrayal of women. While these are present in the movie, he often makes a point to combat it with an inverse portrayal of each
However, social media negatively influences the role women should play in men's eyes. Women are depicted as powerful but also threatening figures throughout the movie. Women such as nurse Ratched and Billy Bibbit's mother, are seen to emasculate men and denigrate them. Bibbit's mother grip on his Billy’s life is so powerful that he commits suicide.
The depiction of the characters in this play is vivid and plentiful, especially in the central figure-Jeffery Skilling. In the opening scene, at an office party, Jeffery Skilling explain the whole process of “mark to market,” in which future profits are treated as a tangible reality. It motivated by Skilling’s fury at business people who don’t understand an accounting system used by all the big Wall Street investment banks. He also introduced his groundbreaking idea that
In this, Butler has managed to cook up a perfect dystopian society, reflecting the faults in our own as well. So with theses determining factors, the rise of the protagonist can be seen to be even greater an impact as she is not only a youth with extreme knowledge and prophet-like tendencies, but a women fighting against a male dominated society. Feminism doesn't appear as the main event in this novel but still continues to remain in the outlining pages, as it can be seen throughout the book in various elements, especially in the brutal oppression of women. As society within the isolated environment the protagonist dwells within, there is several examples of such brutality and lack of concern for women, although some may say they are regarded as equals. On example being that of Travis and Navidad, as Navidad is relentlessly subjected to sexual harassment with no penalty upon the abuser.
Today, many of our perceptions are deceived by systemic stereotypes, often fogging our own ability understand ourselves. This is what suppresses the main character, and a group of other members, in David Fincher’s Fight Club. In the film, both male and female characters are stereotypical and overly sexualized. The film is extremely generalized and Fincher accomplishes this by presenting the characters with no desire to come against the reality of gender norms. The conventions that are held as a standard in the film are the orthodox characteristics of how men are supposed to appear.
The themes of masculinity and American ideals heavily influence this film. Men are presented to be powerful in this film, and that power derives from the fact that they carry guns and commit acts of violence. In the film, almost all of the males have either a pistol or a shotgun. This depiction is inaccurate, as most people in the west didn’t own a firearm. In contrast, women in the film are portrayed to be the weaker gender, being present only to take care of their partner.
This analysis will focus on questions of gender and notions of femininity existing during the Great Depression in US Culture, which are reproduced through the film itself. To support my thesis, I will analyze the most important key scenes
In reading Bell Hooks “Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black” outlining her own discovery of herself and the place in society where she stands as a woman or even as a black woman. Hooks distinguishes the importance of “taking back” for the oppressed and the dominated to recover oneself. I felt the writing of Bell Hook in “Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black” is an audacious act by underlining the problem of woman and reveal Hooks path of rediscovery. Hooks writing “Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black” is an audacious act that underlines the problem of woman.
Cultural theories by Kathleen Rowe, Laura Mulvey and Stuart Hall can help the audience seek an explanation to how these stereotypical gender roles are portrayed in the movie and how it can create power for the specific
Many of his viewpoints are capitalist, for example when he claims it is all
The image portrayal of women in this film is a way for the people in our society to see women as not having good standards. As when Waldo is first introduced to the film Darla instantly started gazing after him for being the rich, clean cut young man. Also Boys see girls as a scapegoat when it comes to their problems such as the scene when the club house burned down, and Alfalfa almost lost his best friend he says, “it all happened because I liked a girl” but it was really nothing to do with Darla that caused all of those events to happen it came from him not telling the truth and trying to hide her. One can also see the ideal role a woman should play in society. For instance, after the race Spanky did not expect Darla to be the one that helped them or be the one under the helmet.
In David Fincher’s, dramatic film “Fight Club”, Fincher develops satire to explain the masculinity of the main characters throughout the movie. Being masculine and or having masculinity, means qualities traditionally ascribed to men, as strength and boldness. Typically, men are seen to be strong, able to fight, have a large frame, and or be fearless. Men such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris are seen to society as Masculine men. However, some develop their masculinity later than others.
Can Societal Gender Roles Limit an Individual? A man is supposed to be strong, powerful, and well respected. What if all genders were seen in the same light? In most societies, past and present, men are viewed as the dominant gender.
He went to city-college and got rich by himself. The emoluments of his work include beautiful women, limousines, a private jet, a house on the beach and a spacious office (J. Stone 84). According to Arsenault, Gekko compromises the cautionary tale about the “shallowness of Wall Street’s money worshipers”(23). Stone argues that when the incentives for evil behavior are appealing, the acts are less immoral (84). Thus, by portraying Gekko and his life in such a compelling way, Oliver Stone allowed for Wall Street’s villain to become a cult hero, thereby undermining his film’s initial
People are immersed in popular culture during most of our waking hours. It is on radio, television, and our computers when we access the Internet, in newspapers, on streets and highways in the form of advertisements and billboards, in movie theaters, at music concerts and sports events, in supermarkets and shopping malls, and at religious festivals and celebrations (Tatum,